Whatever happened to Tarren Bragdon?

The Naples Daily News reports that Maine native Tarren Bragdon, who founded the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center to promote market-based policy recommendations — especially concerning health care policy — has moved to Florida and is setting up shop in the affluent, politically conservative Naples area.

” ‘I really enjoyed being part of Maine, but I wanted to have a policy impact on a bigger stage,’ [Bragdon] said.

Bragdon is the chief executive of the Foundation for Government Accountability, a Naples-based conservative think tank he created in June. It is a member of the State Policy Network, a national umbrella organization for nonprofits that push free-market ideas. And he plans to open an office in Tallahassee.

‘The model for a successful think tank is you’re a charity,’ Bragdon said. ‘You have to be based out of an area where you can raise money, and Naples is a very generous community. And it’s also a very free-market, right-of-center politically oriented place.’”

The article credits Bragdon with helping to craft the controversial health insurance bill LD 1333 that eliminated many insurance regulations, and with helping to get it passed by the Maine Legislature. Read the story here.